A Soldier's Guide

Bosnia-Herzegovina

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A Soldier's Guide to Bosnia-Herzegovina was produced by
Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe, Office of the Chief of Public
Affairs and is published as a Command Information booklet
under authority of AR 360-81 for the Army's internal audience.

LOCATION: On the Balkan Peninsula in the southeast corner of
Europe. Bosnia-Herzegovina shares borders to the west and north
with Croatia, with Serbia to the east and Montenegro to the south-
east. It has a short western coastline - 12 miles - on the Adriatic Sea.

SIZE: It covers about 19,741 square miles (51,129 square
kilometers) - which makes it slightly larger than Tennessee.

TERRAIN: The northern part is mountainous and covered with
thick forests. The southern part is composed largely of rocky hills
and flat farmland.

HIGHEST POINT: Mount Plocna, 7,310 ft. (2,228m).

CAPITAL: The capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina is Sarajevo, with an
estimated 1993 population of 383,000. It was the site of the 1984
Winter Olympics.

CLIMATE: Hot summers and cold winters, with a steady rainfall
throughout the year. Areas of high elevation have short, cool
summers and long, severe winters; mild winters along the coast.

POPULATION: 4,364,000 (March 1991) - that's a little less than
the population of the state of Georgia. The population density is 85.6
per square kilometer. The citizens refer to themselves as Bosnians,
Croatians or Serbians. Many Muslims refer to themselves as
Bosniaks.

LANGUAGES: Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian are the different
names for the same spoken language used by most of the population
(commonly referred to as Serbo-Croatian); there are some differences
between pronunciation and usage. Two different alphabets are used:
the Serbs use the Cyrillic script like Russian; the Croats and Bosnians
use a Roman script.

GOVERNMENT: THE REPUBLIC OF BOSNIA
HERZEGOVINA: president of the presidency - Alija Izetbegovic;
president of the parliament - Miro Lazovic; vice president of the
parliament - Mariofil Ljubic. THE FEDERATION OF BOSNIA
AND HERZEGOVINA: president - Kresimir Zubak; vice president -
Ejup Ganic; chairman of the constituent assembly - Mariofil Ljubic.
GOVERNMENT OF THE FEDERATION AND REPUBLIC OF
BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA: prime minister - Haris Silajdzic; deputy
prime minister - Jadranko Prlic.

TIME: Bosnia-Herzegovina is in the same time zone as the rest of
Western Europe, including Germany and Italy. So if it's 1 p.m./1300
in Sarajevo, it's 1 p.m./1300 in Bad Kreuznach or Vicenza, 7
a.m./0700 on the East Coast of the United States and 4 a.m./0400 on
the U.S. West Coast.

MONEY: In territory controlled by the Bosnia-Herzegovina army,
the local currency is called BH Dinars. It does not have a smaller
unit. On the territory of Herceg Bosnia, the local currency is called
Croat Kuna. German Deutsche marks are the most widely accepted
foreign currency and may be exchanged in BH banks for local
currency. For a better exchange rate, U.S. dollars should be changed
into German marks before you arrive in BH.

ECONOMY: Ranked next to the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia as the poorest republic in the old Yugoslav federation.
Although agriculture has been almost all in private hands, farms have
been small and inefficient, and the republic has traditionally been a
net importer of food. Industry has been greatly overstaffed, one
reflection of the rigidities of Communist central planning and
management. Bosnia-Hercegovina hosted a large share of
Yugoslavia's defense plants. Interethnic warfare in the last three
years has caused production to plummet, unemployment and inflation
to soar. The country receives substantial amounts of humanitarian
aid from the international community.

Bosnia-Herzegovina was part of the Roman Empire during the first
centuries of the Christian era. After the fall of Rome, the area was
contested between Byzantium and Rome's successors in the West.
By the 7th century A.D. it was settled by Slavs. The 9th century saw
the establishment of the neighboring kingdoms of Serbia and Croatia.
In the 11-12th centuries, Bosnia came under the authority of the
Kings of Hungary.

Around 1200 A.D., Bosnia fought for and gained its independence.
In the 14th century, the Ottoman Turks embarked on their conquest
of the Balkans. The provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina formed part of
the Turkish (Ottoman) Empire for almost 400 years before the
annexation to the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1878. The population
of the provinces was composed of an ethnic mixture of Orthodox
Serbs, Roman Catholic Croats and Muslims (mainly Bosnian Slavs
who had converted to Islam).

Austria-Hungary attempted to end Serbian expansionism in 1914 by
declaring war on Serbia; this conflict was to escalate into the First
World War. Dec. 4, 1918, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and
Slovenes was proclaimed when the Serbs and Croats agreed with
other ethnic groups to establish a common state under the Serbian
monarchy. The provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina formed part of the
new kingdom. Bitter disputes ensued between Serbs and Croats,
however, and in January 1929 King Alexander imposed a
dictatorship, changing the name of the country to Yugoslavia.

During the second World War, Josip Broz Tito's partisans, who
were from a variety of ethnic groups, dominated most of Bosnia-
Herzegovina, waging war against invading German and Italian
troops, the Ustasa regime in Croatia and the Serb-dominated
Chetniks. After the war, Bosnia Herzegovina became one of the six
constituent republics of the Yugoslav federation.

In the 1960s, Tito increased Muslim representation in Bosnia-
Herzegovina. In 1971 Slav Muslims were granted a distinct ethnic
status. With Tito's death in 1980, it became increasingly difficult to
keep together the six federal republics comprising Yugoslavia.

As Yugoslavia disintegrated, Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats
attempted to create an independent Bosnia-Herzegovina, but the
Bosnian Serbs opposed it. In the spring of 1992, independence was
declared and officially recognized by the international community.
However, the Bosnian Serbs created their own separate Serbian
republic within Bosnia-Herzegovina and removed their members
from the government.

In 1992, the Bosnian Serbs, assisted by the Federal Army of Serbia,
attempted to carve out land for itself within Bosnia. The Federal and
Bosnian Serb armies under General Ratko Mladic, aided by
paramilitary groups, began seizing territory in northern and eastern
Bosnia, expelled much of the non-Serb population, and engaged in
ethnic cleansing, in which intimidation or violence were used to
remove all members of other ethnic groups from the area. They also
laid siege to Sarajevo. At the same time, a large group of Bosnian
Croats decided to break away, taking most of the remaining territory
in Bosnia to form a union called Herceg-Bosna. This led to fighting
between formerly allied Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims.

In 1992, the UN imposed economic sanctions and sent
approximately 8,000 UNPROFOR troops to protect noncombatants
and the safe zones. The UN also demanded Bosnia remain a single
country and not be partitioned into three separate, ethnically pure
states. This UN policy was incorporated into the Vance-Owen peace
plan, but was rejected by the Bosnian Serbs. Later that year, the UN
came up with the Owen-Stoltenberg plan (almost opposite to the
former UN plan), which was rejected by the Bosnian Muslims.

As the atrocities and casualties continued to mount, the UN Security
Council in June 1993 agreed upon a resolution. It called for the
deployment of up to 25,000 additional UN soldiers and gave them the
mandate to use force to defend safe areas. Several cease-fires were
also negotiated, but were quickly violated. Due to UN sanctions, the
Federal Army withdrew all official support from the Bosnian Serbs.

In February 1994, during one of the cease-fires, the Croatian and
Bosnian governments resumed their alliance and formed a Joint
Federation to oppose the Serbs. In May 1994, the United States,
France, Britain, Germany and Russia (the Contact Group) endorsed a
plan to leave 51 percent of Bosnia under control of the new Bosnian-
Croat Federation, while awarding 49 percent to the Bosnian Serbs.
The Bosnian Serbs rejected this plan and continued their attacks.

In 1994 it was estimated that, since the beginning of the civil
conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina, more than 200,000 people had been
killed and many more wounded, while more than 2.7 million people
(about 60 percent of the pre-war population) had been displaced.

Following NATO airstrikes and attacks by the combined Bosnian
Muslim and Croatian armies in the late summer and early fall of
1995, the Bosnian Serbs again considered the peace plan. A cease-
fire was declared Oct. 12, 1995, to be followed by peace talks whose
objective is to negotiate a final peace plan. Once this plan is signed
by all the warring factions, NATO and other military forces will
establish a peace implementation force in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Before the current crisis, the warring factions were part of the
Yugoslav National army (JNA).

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (JA) came into
being in May 1992. It is made up of two-thirds of
the former Yugoslav National Army and is
subordinate to the Yugoslav government. The JA
has 250,000 men, 800-900 tanks, 740 APCs and
1,400 field guns and howitzers.

Bosnian Serb Army (BSA) comprises 85,000
troops and uses heavy weapons to compensate for
lack of manpower. It has received support from the
JA and can count on large numbers of irregular
soldiers often called Chetniks. Ultranationalist
paramilitary groups, like Arkan's Tigers and the
White Eagles, also conduct military operations in
Bosnia and are suspected of committing some of
the worst atrocities of the war.

Croatian Army (HV). The Croatian army is
divided into three components: the Regular Army,
Home Defense Force, and Army Reserve. The
Regular Army numbers about 45,000 and is made
up mainly of conscripts. the Home Defense Force
is about 75,000 men and is formed in each Croatian
district, with cities responsible for raising and
supplying these units. The Croatian Army Reserve
numbers approximately 150,000 men.

Croatian Defense Council (HVO). The HVO was
created to provide local defense. Recently four
professional brigades have been created from
Opstina brigades while Home Defense Forces are
used to provide security and logistical support.
These professional brigades are well trained and are
used as elite/shock troops in vital operations.

Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina (ABiH). The ABiH
was formed from Territorial Defense Forces in
Bosnia-Herzegovina and numbers approximately
52,000 troops. Historically, it was the least well
equipped of the warring factions, but has a large
arms and ammunition manufacturing capability.
The ABiH is aided by a small number of
Mujahadeen and other volunteers from Islamic
countries, who are often used for shock troops due
to their fundamentalist inspired fanaticism.

Bosnia-Herzegovina is divided into three major religious/cultural
groups: Islam, the largest group (Muslim Slavs), comprises
approximately 44 percent of the population and makes up most of the
government, another 17 percent of the population comprises
Croatians who are mostly Roman Catholic and allied with the
Bosnian Muslims. The Serbs are Eastern-Orthodox and make up
approximately 31 percent of the population. The remainder of the
population is 4 percent Protestant and 4 percent other religious
groups.

Because of the close identification of these ethnic groups with their
religion, it is extremely important for outsiders to be sensitive to
religious matters and the customs of the country. Always act in a
respectful manner when dealing with the local population; do not
discuss politics or show partiality to any group; remove headgear in
religious buildings; do not take photographs of public buildings or
people without first obtaining permission.

Never interrupt when someone is in prayer. Remember, these people
are the product of more than 1,000 years of history and culture. They
can be easily insulted when they perceive any disrespect of them or
their culture. Simply act in a respectful and considerate manner at all
times.

The following hand gestures should not be used: the peace sign
using the index and middle fingers; and, a three-fingered gesture
using the thumb, index and middle fingers held apart and upright
from the palm. The first is an informal greeting used by the Croats, so
it would be very offensive to Serbs; the second is a gesture used by
the Serbs, so it would be very offensive to Croats and Bosnian
Muslims. Either gesture could provoke a violent reaction.

A soldier who is well informed through command information can
be an excellent unofficial spokesperson. Reporters want a soldier's
perspective of military operations and seek out soldiers of all ranks
and positions. Public affairs staff can assist soldiers prepare for a
scheduled interview; however, some reporters will ask spontaneous
questions of any soldier.

Know who your are talking to. Accredited media will be
escorted by public affairs staff or have authorization to operate in the
area. Think OPSEC. When in doubt, call the PAO.

Listen to the question. If you are unsure of a question, ask the
reporter to repeat it or clarify it. Take time to think about your
answer.

Be honest. There is nothing wrong with saying "I don't know" or I
can't tell you." However, never lie to a reporter.

Stay within your responsibility or expertise. Just remember: if
you command it, own it or did it, then talk about it. Avoid
hypothetical questions.

Do not discuss classified or sensitive information. If you're not
sure if a topic is sensitive or classified, don't talk about it.

Anything you say is on the record. Assume everything you say
will appear in print or on the air.

Keep your answers brief and to the point. Broadcasters will edit
your 30 seconds of comments into a single 3- to 5-second sound bite.

Relax and be yourself. Reporters are interviewing you because of
who you are you are; do not try to be anyone else.